Shawn Mendes Cast To Star In Ivan Reitman’s ‘Summer Of Love’

Shawn Mendes is going from Vine star to pop star to movie star. The Canadian teen has just been announced as a cast member in writer and director Ivan Reitman’s upcoming musical, Summer of Love.

The film, which is still being shopped to studios, centers on the protests of 1967, which saw 100,000 young people converge in San Francisco to voice their opposition to the Vietnam War.

Summer of Love is the first musical for the Canadian director and the first live action role for Mendes, who previously had a voice role in the animated film Underdogs.

Mendes is the latest male pop star to attach his name to a starring role. One Direction’s Harry Styles is set to appear in this summer’s highly anticipated Christopher Nolan film Dunkirk, which also stars Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy (watch the trailer here). Just this past weekend at SXSW, actor and singer Ansel Elgort’s new film Baby Driver premiered to rave reviews. Also at SXSW, Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss confirmed that Ed Sheeran will make a cameo in Season 7 of Game of Thrones, which is set to premiere July 16.

Before he begins filming Summer of Love, Shawn Mendes is set to return to the JUNO Awards on Sunday, April 2 when he takes the stage to perform at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Mendes is up for five nominations this year thanks to his 2016 album Illuminate.

The 2017 JUNO Awards will be co-hosted by Russell Peters and Bryan Adams and feature performances from Shawn Mendes as well as Alessia Cara, Arkells, Strumbellas, A Tribe Called Red, Ruth B, and Canadian Music Hall of Fame Inductee Sarah McLachlan.

Watch the 2017 JUNO Awards on Sunday, April 2 starting at 7 p.m. ET on CTV and CTV GO. Tickets to the award show, taking place at The Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, are available here through Ticketmaster.